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Knights 'attack' biggest rival

OWEN SOUND - This past summer, London goalie Michael Houser was asked what team he thought was the Knights' most hated rival.

Fresh off their wild six-game first round playoff series, he pointed squarely at the Owen Sound Attack.

Not Kitchener. Not Windsor. Not even Sarnia or Sault Ste. Marie.

His choice may have surprised many, but certainly not after watching him skate to centre ice, remove his helmet and accept a challenge from Jordan Binnington to a goalie fight in a rabid second period of a 7-5 Knights victory Saturday night before 3,216 at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.

While a near-brawl simmered around them, the linesmen rushed over and intercepted the puckstoppers before they threw a punch.

"There was a lot of dirty play and I pride myself on keeping control of my emotions but I didn't do that there," the 19-year-old Houser said. "He (Binnington) came out towards centre and the unwritten rule is you go, too. I didn't think about (the ramifications) and I'm upset at myself now.

"We all remember the playoff series last year and (Stephen) Sanza and (Joey) Hishon, you don't forget stuff like that. The older guys talked about it before the game. We're two different teams now, but yeah (there's still bad blood)."

The last thing the Knights need is Houser, short regular backup Jake Patterson because of mononucleosis, fighting.

"I thought, 'Uh, oh,' when I saw him skating out there," London rookie forward Max Domi said. "He's a big part of our team and we don't want anything bad to happen to him."

But London's first visit to the Bayshore since its Game 5 loss to the league champion Attack last spring stirred up that kind of venom in the both clubs.

The fireworks exploded after London forward Tyler Ferry was cross-checked in the face near the Owen Sound bench. Ferry and Jared Knight, who just returned from a two-game suspension, were both sent off for fighting with the Attack's Cameron Brace and Gemel Smith.

Those punch-ups happened a few minutes after a long delay turned most of the arena quiet.

Owen Sound import Artur Gavrus had to be taken to hospital after a staggering open-ice hit from Domi. The 17-year-old from Belarus was knocked out and suffered a serious head injury.

He regained consciousness by the time he left the ice by stretcher.

"I feel bad," Domi said. "You don't want anyone to get hurt. I just saw him cutting across and thought I might as well hit him."

Owen Sound head coach Greg Ireland said he hadn't seen the hit on replay and didn't want to comment on it. It was too soon to have an update on Gavrus.

London, with Knight, Matt Rupert and Scott Harrington back in the lineup, roared out to a quick start - much different than the Plymouth blitz they faced on Friday.

Until Tierney's effort, no other Knight except Griffith had found the back of the net while down a man this season.

He has four shorties. No OHL team has surrendered more of them than Owen Sound.

Speedy Andreas Athanasiou busted out with a pair of goals in an ultra-quick six-second span to start a whacky second period.

It was the fastest consecutive goals by one player in Knights history, surpassing Jim McRae's eight-second barrage on Oct. 3, 1978 in Kitchener.

Athanasiou, because of his incredible skating, averages about a breakaway each game. He is highly ranked in the NHL Central Scouting list but he hadn't been producing offensively the way he envisioned.

"If I buried half of my chances, I'd be right up with the leading scorers in the league," Athanasiou said. "I'm not worried because I've had the chances. If I wasn't getting them, then you worry.

"Once you get one, then they're all going to start going in."

Obviously, it can turn in a hurry.

The Knights still haven't lost two games in a row this year and stopped the Attack's four-game win streak.

They are back atop the OHL's Western Conference standings.

And after all the zaniness, the same two teams meet again Sunday night in London.